Narrow row cotton picker and a row unit therefor

Abstract

A cotton harvester row unit having an in-line drum arrangement and a door chamber cross section which remains generally constant from the rear structural post so that the suction door can be moved closer to the row centerline to narrow the overall width of the unit. The unit is sufficiently narrow that cotton in row spacings of less than 30 inches can be harvested. The new suction door location allows the cotton from the rear doffer to enter the door more directly. The row unit picker drums include picker bars with 14 or 16 spindles per bar to shorten the height and weight of the unit and permit use of shorter stalk lifters so that unit length is also reduced. A two-row tractor mounted picker utilizes the narrow row units mounted on a rail type of support system at the rear of a tractor. The units are laterally adjustable on rails for accommodating different row spacings and patterns, including 60 centimeter row spacings and 60-30 centimeter skip row spacings. The tractor rockshaft control valve, connected through a height control valve to lift cylinders, provides unit lift and automatic height control.

We claim: 
     
       1. In a cotton harvester for harvesting cotton planted in rows, a row unit comprising: a fore-and-aft extending row unit housing defining a row receiving area;   a cotton conveying duct located at the aft end of the row unit;   a first harvesting drum supported by the housing for rotation about an upright axis beside the row receiving area, the drum including a plurality of spindles for picking cotton from a row of cotton plants in the row receiving area;   a second harvesting drum supported by the housing rearwardly of and on the same side of the row receiving area as the first drum;   door structure extending rearwardly from a forward location outwardly adjacent the forward drum toward the aft end of the row unit, the door structure including a rearwardly directed area opening into the cotton conveying duct;   front and rear doffer columns located near the rear of the harvesting drums for removing picked cotton from the spindles and directing the cotton outwardly to the door structure, wherein the rearwardly directed opening has a substantial portion aligned in the fore-and-aft direction with the rear doffer column to thereby provide a direct path rearwardly from the rearward doffer column to the duct; and   wherein the door structure includes an outermost upright wall having a rearward portion which is nondivergent outwardly relative to the row receiving area from a location adjacent the rear drum to the aft end of the unit, the upright wall offset outwardly from the row receiving area a distance substantially less than 66 centimeters (26 inches).   
     
     
       2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein the door structure opens rearwardly at a location rearwardly adjacent the doffer column for the rear drum to thereby provide a direct path from the doffer column to the opening. 
     
     
       3. In a cotton harvester for harvesting cotton planted in rows, a row unit comprising: a fore-and-aft extending row unit housing defining a row receiving area;   a cotton conveying duct located at the aft end of the row unit;   a first harvesting drum supported by the housing for rotation about an upright axis beside the row receiving area, the drum including a plurality of spindles for picking cotton from a row of cotton plants in the row receiving area;   a second harvesting drum supported rearwardly of and on the same side of the row receiving area as the first drum;   door structure extending rearwardly from a forward location outwardly adjacent the forward drum toward the aft end of the row unit, the door structure including a rearwardly directed opening which opens into the cotton conveying duct;   forward and rearward doffer columns located near the rear of the respective first and second harvesting drums for removing picked cotton from the spindles and directing the cotton to the door structure; and   wherein the rearward doffer column is located forwardly of and is aligned in the fore-and-aft direction with a portion of the opening to provide a direct path rearwardly from the rearward doffer column into the duct.   
     
     
       4. The invention as set forth in claim 3 wherein the door structure includes an outermost upright wall having a rearward portion which is offset outwardly from the row receiving area a distance substantially less than 66 centimeters (26 inches) so that cotton planted in row spacings of 60 centimeters or less are accommodated by the row unit. 
     
     
       5. A cotton harvester comprising: a tractor having transversely spaced wheels, a fore-and-aft extending frame supported by the wheels for forward movement over a field having cotton planted in parallel rows spaced approximately 60 centimeters or less, and a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure;   a basket supported from the tractor frame;   a duct extending upwardly behind the tractor and opening into the basket;   a fore-and-aft extending row unit having a crop receiving area and upright picker drum structure with spindles located on one side only of the crop receiving area, doffer column structure supported adjacent the drum structure for doffing cotton from the spindles and directing the cotton rearwardly, and door structure opening rearwardly toward the duct for receiving doffed cotton and directing the cotton into the duct;   wherein the door structure is located on the side of the drum structure opposite the row receiving area and has an outermost wall located no more than approximately 60 centimeters from the row receiving area, and wherein the door structure extends rearwardly and is nondivergent outwardly in the rearward direction from a location adjacent the drum structure, the doffer column structure including a rear upright doffer defining a substantially fore-and-aft extending cotton conveying path from the drum structure directly to the duct; and   a support located rearwardly of the tractor and supporting the row unit rearwardly of the wheels.   
     
     
       6. A cotton harvester comprising: a tractor having transversely spaced wheels, a fore-and-aft extending frame supported by the wheels for forward movement over a field having cotton planted in parallel rows spaced approximately 60 centimeters or less, and a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure;   a basket supported from the tractor frame;   a duct extending upwardly behind the tractor and opening into the basket;   a fore-and-aft extending row unit having a crop receiving area and upright picker drum structure with spindles located on one side only of the crop receiving area, doffer column structure supported adjacent the drum structure for doffing cotton from the spindles and directing the cotton in substantially a rearward direction, and door structure defining a rearward opening for receiving doffed cotton and directing the cotton into the duct;   wherein the door structure is located on the side of the drum structure opposite the row receiving area and has an outermost wall located no more than approximately 60 centimeters from the row receiving area, and wherein the door structure extends rearwardly from a location adjacent the drum structure;   a support located rearwardly of the tractor and supporting the row unit rearwardly of the wheels;   wherein the row unit includes an inner side opposite the door structure side of the row unit, wherein the inner side is offset from the row receiving area less than approximately 30 centimeters so that the row unit can harvest a row of cotton spaced no more than 30 centimeters from an adjacent row without substantial damage to the adjacent row, and   wherein a substantial portion of the doffer column structure is aligned in the fore-and-aft direction with the opening so that a direct cotton conveying path rearwardly from the doffer column structure through the opening and into the duct is defined.   
     
     
       7. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein the door structure opens rearwardly into the duct directly behind the doffer structure so that a direct path is provided from the doffer structure to the duct for relatively unimpeded cotton flow from the doffer structure into the duct. 
     
     
       8. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein the tractor includes a rockshaft selective control valve, and wherein the harvester includes a height control connected to the selective control valve. 
     
     
       9. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein the harvester includes first and second row units transversely spaced at the aft end of the tractor frame and spaced to harvest a pair of rows of cotton spaced a distance of no more than approximately 60 centimeters from each other. 
     
     
       10. The invention as set forth in claim 10 wherein the tractor includes wheels spaced to embrace at least three narrowly spaced rows of cotton, and wherein the row units are spaced to harvest two of the rows of cotton. 
     
     
       11. The invention as set forth in claim 6 wherein the tractor includes wheels spaced to embrace two pairs of rows with a spacing between pairs of approximately 60 centimeters and with the row spacings in each pair being approximately 30 centimeters apart. 
     
     
       12. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein the door structure is nondivergent outwardly relative to the row receiving area from a location adjacent the drum structure to the aft end of the unit. 
     
     
       13. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein the drum structure includes a forward drum and a rearward drum, and wherein the outermost wall of the door structure extends in the fore-and-aft direction from a location adjacent the rearward drum. 
     
     
       14. The invention as set forth in claim 13 wherein the doffer column structure includes a rear doffer column rearwardly adjacent the rearward drum and wherein the door structure opens onto a portion of the rear doffer column so that a direct path to the duct is provided for cotton doffed by the rear doffer. 
     
     
       15. The invention as set forth in claim 13 including panel structure adjacent the rearward drum extending inwardly of and parallel to the outermost wall for diverting cotton doffed from the forward drum outwardly around the rearward drum. 
     
     
       16. A cotton harvester for harvesting cotton planted in rows, the harvester comprising a plurality of row units, each unit comprising: a fore-and-aft extending row unit housing defining a row receiving area;   a cotton conveying duct located at the aft end of the row unit;   a first harvesting drum supported by the housing for rotation about an upright axis beside the row receiving area, the drum including a plurality of spindles for picking cotton from a row of cotton plants in the row receiving area;   a second harvesting drum supported by the housing rearwardly of and on the same side of the row receiving area as the first drum;   door structure extending rearwardly from a forward location outwardly adjacent the forward drum toward the aft end of the row unit, the door structure including a rearwardly directed area opening into the cotton conveying duct;   forward and rearward doffer columns located near the rear of the harvesting drums for removing picked cotton from the spindles and directing the cotton outwardly to the door structure;   wherein the door structure includes an outermost upright wall having a rearward portion which is nondivergent outwardly relative to the row receiving area from a location adjacent the rear drum to the aft end of the unit, the upright wall offset outwardly from the row receiving area a distance substantially less than 66 centimeters (26 inches) to facilitate placement of the row units with the spacing between row receiving areas on adjacent units substantially less than 76 centimeters; and   wherein the rearward doffer column is located forwardly of and is aligned in the fore-and-aft direction with a portion of the opening to provide a direct path rearwardly from the rearward doffer column into the duct.   
     
     
       17. The invention as set forth in claim 16 wherein the row units include an innermost portion opposite the outermost upright wall, the innermost portion spaced less than approximately 30 centimeters from the row receiving area to facilitate harvesting of rows of cotton spaced as narrowly as 30 centimeters. 
     
     
       18. The invention as set forth in claim 17 wherein the harvester includes wheels spaced to embrace at least three rows of cotton spaced between approximately 30 to 60 centimeters, and units spaced to simultaneously harvest two of the rows embraced between the wheels.